Negation in Arabic
Negation in Arabic is the array of approaches used in Arabic grammar to express grammatical negation. These strategies correspond to words in English like no and not.
Modern Standard Arabic
Negation in the present tense
Negating present-tense verbs
Present-tense verbs are negated by adding لا lā "not" before the verb:| sentence type | example |
| affirmative sentence | أُحِبُّ الجَزَرَ ’uḥibbu l-jazara "I like carrots" |
| negative sentence | لا أُحِبُّ الجَزَرَ lā ’uḥibbu l-jazara "I do not like carrots" |
Negation of sentences with no verb
If a sentence would, in the affirmative, have no verb, then the negative verb لَيْسَ laysa "is not" is used. laysa is inflected like a past-tense verb, but is used to negate present-tense sentences. As with كانَ kāna "was", the complement of laysa must be in the accusative case. Before consonantal endings, the diphthong -ay- is reduced to a short -a-.Here is an example sentence saying that something is not big in all possible persons and numbers:
| person | singular | dual | plural |
| 1st m | لَسْتُ كَبِيرًا lastu kabīran "I am not big" | لَسْنَا كَبِيرَيْنِ lasnā kabīrayni "we are not big" | لَسْنَا كُبَرَاءَ lasnā kubarāʾa "we are not big" |
| 1st f | لَسْتُ كَبِيرَةً lastu kabīratan "I am not big" | لَسْنَا كَبِيرَتَيْنِ lasnā kabīratayni "we are not big" | لَسْنَا كَبِيرَاتٍ lasnā kabīrātin "we are not big" |
| 2nd m | لَسْتَ كَبِيرًا lasta kabīran "you are not big" | لَسْتُمَا كَبِيرَيْنِ laystumā kabīrayni "you two are not big" | لَسْتُمْ كُبَرَاءَ lastum kubirā’a "you are not big" |
| 2nd f | لَسْتِ كَبِيرَةً lasti kabīratan "you are not big" | لَسْتُمَا كَبِيرَتَيْنِ laystumā kabīratayni "you two are not big" | لَسْتُنَّ كَبِيرَاتٍ lastunna kabīrātin "you are not big" |
| 3rd m | لَيْسَ كَبِيرًا laysa kabīran "he is not big" | لَيْسَا كَبِيرَيْنِ laysā kabīrayni "the two of them are not big" | لَيْسُوا كُبَرَاءَ laysū kubirā’a "they are not big" |
| 3rd f | لَيْسَت كَبِيرَةً laysat kabīratan "she is not big" | لَيْسَتَا كَبِيرَتَيْنِ laysatā kabīratayni "the two of them are not big" | لَسْنَ كَبِيرَاتٍ laysna kabīrātin "they are not big" |
Negation of past-tense verbs
In Modern Standard Arabic, the main way to negate past-tense verbs is to add the negative particle لَمْ lam "not" before the verb, and to put the verb in the jussive mood. In more colloquial usage, it is possible to give the verb in the present indicative mood.| sentence type | example |
| affirmative sentence | أَحْبَبْتُ الجَزَرَ ’aḥbabtu l-jazara "I liked carrots" |
| negative sentence | لَم أُحْبِبِ الجَزَرَ lam ʾuḥbibi l-jazara "I did not like carrots" |
| negative sentence | لَم أُحِبِّ الجَزَرَ lam ’uḥibbi l-jazara "I did not like carrots" |
It is also possible to use the negative particle ما mā before the verb, giving the verb in the past tense.
| sentence type | example |
| affirmative sentence | أَحْبَبْتُ الجَزَرَ ’aḥbabtu l-jazara "I liked carrots" |
| negative sentence | مَا أَحْبَبْتُ الجَزَرَ mā ’aḥbabtu l-jazara "I did not like carrots" |
Negation of verbs in the future tense
Negating a proposition in the future is done by placing the negative particle لَنْ lan before the verb in the subjunctive mood.| sentence type | example |
| affirmative sentence | سَوْفَ أذْهَب إلى الدَّرْس غَداً sawfa ’aḍhabu ’ilā d-darsi ġadan "I will go to the class tomorrow" |
| negative sentence | لَنْ أذْهَب إلى الدَّرْس غَدا lan ’aḍhaba ’ilā d-darsi ġadan "I will not go to the class tomorrow" |
Negation of imperative verbs
The imperative is negated by putting لا lā "not" before the verb, putting the verb in the jussive, rather than the imperative, mood. For example, in the masculine singular: اِظْلِمْ, لا تَظْلِمْ.Saying "no"
"No", as an answer to a question, is expressed by the negative particle لا lā.Varieties of Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic لَيْسَ laysa "is not" is replaced in colloquial usage with a variety of other forms, which in origin are contractions of phrases such as ما مِنْ شَيْ mā min shay "nothing" :| Variety | "she is not here" | "she is not here" |
| MSA | لَيْسَت هُنَا | laysat hunā |
| Egyptian | هِيَ مِش هِنا | hiya mish hinā |
| North African | هِيَ ماشي هُنا هِيَ ماراهيش هُنا | hiya māshi hunā hiya mārāhīsh hunā |
| Iraq | هِيَ مو هِنا | hiya mū hinā |
North African, Egyptian, and some Levantine Arabic varieties negate verbs using a circumfix—a combination of the prefix ma- and the suffix -ʃ. This, for example, is the negative paradigm of the verb كَتَبَ kataba "he wrote" in Algerian Arabic:
In these varieties, to negate present participles and verbs conjugated in the future, mūš, or its conjugated form, is frequently used. For example, Tunisian Arabic موش mūsh is conjugated as follows:
| Pronoun | Auxiliary Verb |
| ānā آنا | mānīš مانيش |
| intī إنتي | mākiš ماكش |
| hūwa هوة | māhūš ماهوش |
| hīya هية | māhīš ماهيش |
| aḥnā أحنا | mānāš مناش |
| intūmā انتوما | mākumš مكمش |
| hūmā هومة | māhumš مهمش |